Emails: Solicitor ignored multiple communications
A solicitor who failed to engage with Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Legal Ombudsman (LeO) investigations – leading to the issue of a statutory notice – has been fined for misconduct.
But the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) found that health issues “pervaded” Imran Haider Khawaja’s actions at the time and “served to reduce his culpability to a low to moderate level”.
Mr Khawaja, who qualified in 1993, is the owner of Armstrong Legal in South London and faced charges in relation to three matters.
With Client A, there were “numerous instances” of his failure to respond to LeO requests between December 2020 and January 2024, and to the SRA after LeO reported him to the regulator.
In August 2023, LeO issued a section 147 notice under the Legal Services Act 2007, demanding he deliver up specific information. He had 14 days to respond but only did so four months later.
This was the “most serious aspect of the non-co-operation”, the SDT said.
There were similar failures to respond to LeO and the SRA over Client B over three years, and a delay in paying the client compensation as ordered by LeO.
Mr Khawaja had given London firm Sheridans an undertaking in November 2021 to pay costs of £3,500 + VAT but did not do so until June 2023 after Sheridans had reported him to the SRA, although he again failed to respond to the regulator multiple times.
The solicitor acknowledged and apologised for the delays but disputed that they constituted a lack of integrity because of his medical issues at the time.
His defence was that, in October 2020, he suffered a “serious health event”, his survival of which was described as “rather miraculous” by doctors.
But he said it resulted in “residual and pervasive issues affecting in the short to medium term his cognitive functioning, memory, and focus which impacted upon his work during the relevant period, though his recovery was now almost complete”.
Mr Khawaja explained that, as the director of a small firm, he lacked access to sufficient resources to delegate the regulatory matters, “and he had had no option but to fight through his issues and continue as best he could”.
He noted too that, in relation to Client A, LeO ultimately did not consider that the firm needed to take any action to resolve the complaint.
The SDT said it accepted that the medical issues “represented an explanation rather than excuse, particularly the ongoing nature of the issues and the impact they had had on aspects of [Mr Khawaja’s] professional and personal life.
“Therefore the tribunal found that the high threshold for lack of integrity has not been found proved.”
At the same time, the failure to observe the undertaking within a reasonable time frame “raised the level of seriousness in this case”.
It explained: “The giving of an undertaking by a solicitor was a solemn and serious step. The giving and discharge of undertakings formed the basis of trust between solicitors and without which transactions would falter and break down.
“Even though the tribunal had accepted the matters relating to health, and not found lack of integrity, it would have been an easy matter for him to have written a cheque to discharge the undertaking he had given.”
In further mitigation, Mr Khawaja said he had enjoyed an unblemished career over the preceding three decades, and had taken steps to “stabilise his health”, reorganise his affairs and ensure compliance – the absence of subsequent concerns was “testament” to those efforts.
Deciding that a fine of £5,000 was appropriate, the SDT “urged people in similar circumstances to ensure that they sought appropriate help before matters spiralled out of their control”.
It also reduced the costs claimed by the SRA from £30,000 to £20,000, saying that it should have carried out “a further review to examine critically whether the case had crossed the high threshold required to make a finding of lack of integrity (this with a view to settling the matter) once it had received [Mr Khawaja’s] answer and his medical evidence. This would have saved time and costs”.
Leave a Comment